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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUNDAY TIMES BY FAX: 0171 7825 454 |
LETTER ONE - 11th January 2000. LETTER TWO - 17th January 2000. LETTER THREE - 9th February 2000. LETTER FOUR - 14th March 2000. LETTER FIVE - 5th April 2000.
Return to Letters to the Press
LETTER ONE - The Sunday Times 11th January 2000. Return to Sunday Times Dear Sir, Whilst acknowledging that medical care for the majority of patients in the UK is very good, medical mistakes will inevitably occur. As Co-Directors of Sufferers of Iatrogenic Neglect (S.I.N.), a support and watchdog group for patients and their relatives who have suffered damage because of medical errors; we welcomed the excellent article by Lois Rogers in The Sunday Times dated 19th December, 1999, which publicly admitted that doctors are not infallible. That these errors can have very serious consequences for the patient was highlighted by the article's heading : "Blunders by Doctors kill 40,000 a year". Members of S.I.N. know this damage to be "iatrogenic" ie medically induced. The figures in the article suggested that 70% suffer short term damage; that 14% (40,000 per year) die; and by inference the remaining 16% (45,000) per year sustain serious, long term iatrogenic damage. S.I.N. welcomes the fact that research is now being undertaken to establish the true extent of medical errors as the first step to reducing the problem and improving quality control in our NHS. Our members have first hand experience of the isolation and trauma caused by serious medical errors. Patients can accept that doctors make mistakes, what they cannot cope with is the cover-up and denial which leaves damaged patients fighting for the truth. Unfortunately, whilst the patient is pursuing the Complaints Procedure or the legal route, medical care becomes compromised, for to give treatment to remedy the damage would expose that a mistake had been made. S.I.N. believes that it is time for a change of culture which would enable doctors to admit mistakes and for the patient to have a right to the truth after damage has occurred. This would reduce drastically the £millions per annum spent on medical litigation, when this money should be spent on health care. Such changes are absolutely vital to ensure the basic human right to adequate health care is upheld, which is currently being denied to many iatrogenic patients in the present confrontational climate. An honest and open culture would be of mutual benefit to both doctor and patient. For details of S.I.N.'s Aims & Objectives please contact the following e-mail address: sinfo@cwcom.netYours truly,
LETTER TWO - The Sunday Times 17th January 2000. Return to Sunday Times Dear Sir, Re: Article in Focus "Curing the NHS" by Lois Rogers & Michael Prescott , 16/01/00 As Co-Directors of Sufferers of Iatrogenic Neglect (S.I.N.), a support and watchdog group for patients and their relatives who have suffered damage (iatrogenic) because of medical errors, we read with alarm the extent of the under funding of the present NHS in comparison with our European counterparts. S.I.N. is concerned with improving standards of health care, and one way of achieving this is by reducing the number of medical errors which now are the third largest cause of deaths in Britain after cancer and heart disease. Under funding is undoubtedly one contributory cause of medical errors, for when staff are over- worked and stressed, mistakes are most likely to occur. Extra money would allow for more consultants, doctors and nurses. It would also allow for better resourced teaching, more supervision for trainee doctors and surgeons and a reduction of working hours for Junior Doctors. Standards of health care would inevitably improve and the incidents of iatrogenic damage would decline. One other consequence would be savings on the staggering £2.8bn presently spent per annum on medical litigation. Everyone seems agreed that the NHS requires additional funding. We believe that the majority of people would be ready to pay more in taxes to ensure that our NHS has standards at least equal to those of other EC countries. S.I.N. can be contacted on e-mail : sinfo@cwcom.net or by Tel: 07980 522047Yours faithfully,
LETTER THREE - The Sunday Times 9th February 2000. Return to Sunday Times Dear Editor, Re: Dr. Harold Shipman & the GMC Sufferers of Iatrogenic Neglect (SIN) is a support group for patients who have suffered from a medical mistake. The GMC has let down not only patients but also its own profession. Although Dr. Shipman was known to be a drug abuser with a criminal conviction for forging prescriptions, he was passed as a fit character to practice medicine. A further three complaints against this GP were dismissed. Just how bad does a doctor have to be, to be struck off? The demand by the GMC for a "no blame culture" sounds rather hollow in the light of the Shipman affair. The GMC was publicly shamed when the Secretary of State had to remind this regulatory body that its "raison d' etre " is to protect patients! At the recent inquiry into adverse medical incidents by the Health Select Committee the witnesses called to give oral evidence were asked if they thought self-regulation should cease, they unanimously answered in the affirmative and all those present burst into spontaneous applaud. The Hippocratic oath has been discontinued for several decades. What oath, if any, replaced it? How many doctors now swear an oath of allegiance to each other, rather than an oath to protect the patient? There has been a total collapse of patient confidence in both the NHS Complaints Procedure and the GMC: neither of which offer protection. For the last eighteen months SIN has been campaigning for a culture of accountability and the setting up of an Independent Statutory Authority which will have the power to take sanctions against any health professional or manager who misleads or fails to thoroughly investigate a complaint. Representation from damaged patients to be included. SIN may be contacted by Tel:07980 522047 or e-mail: sinfo@cwcom.netYours sincerely
LETTER FOUR - The Sunday Times 14th March 2000. Return to Sunday Times Dear Sir, Re: "REVEALED: CRUELTY OF STAFF IN NHS HOSPITALS" by Mark Macaskill 12/03/00 We write as Co-Directors of Sufferers of iatrogenic neglect (S.I.N.) and wish to congratulate The Sunday Times for exposing the shameful standards of care which vulnerable elderly patients are suffering in two British hospitals. SIN is a support and watchdog organisation for patients and their relatives who have suffered a medical mistake, and is aiming to improve standards in the NHS. Such appalling levels of hygiene, medical care and lack of compassion for the patient did not arise suddenly, but represents years of an insidious culture of unaccountability and lack of regulation. If these shocking conditions were immediately obvious to the under0-cover investigative journalist, then all staff, including nurses, doctors and management must have been aware. How many complaints have been received by the management of these two hospitals over the last few years? Where were the whistle-blowers amongst the staff? Should the hospitals be conducting their own investigations? Is is not time fot he suspension of these Trust Boards, pending possible charges of criminal neglect of patients: putting lives at risk? There has been a collapse of confidence in health Authorities, trusts, NHS Complaints procedure, the UKCC and the GMC: none of which ensures patient safety. SIN may be contacted by e-mail: sinfo@cwcom.netYours faithfully,
LETTER FIVE - The Sunday Times 5th April 2000. Return to Sunday Times Dear Sir, Re: Article: "Elderly are helped to die to clear beds, claim doctor" Mark Macaskill & Jon Ungoed-Thomas We write as Co-Directors of Sufferers of Iatrogenic neglect S.I.N.and wish to congratulate the Sunday Times for exposing the callous treatment meted out to the vulnerable and elderly in our hospitals. SIN is a support group and watchdog organisation for patients and their relatives who have suffered sub-standard medical care and is aiming to improve standards in the NHS. The junior doctor who blew the whistle is to be praised for her public service. What a pity such a compassionate and conscientious doctor should feel she must leave the NHS. Why was she the only health professional who had the courage to expose the appalling levels of hygiene, medical care and lack of compassion? The medical profession seems to have taken upon itself to make the decision when the cut-off point for health care is to be. Apparently it can now be as low as 60 years !! On what moral grounds has this decision been made? Obviously few would support the use of aggressive interventionist treatment to keep the dying alive, but everyone is entitled to good nursing care and palliative drugs to alleviate suffering and to prolong life. It is one thing to allow people to die with dignity and without pain, it is quite another to precipitate death because lives have become an economic inconvenience and a hospital needs more beds. What has happened to the caring professions? S.I.N. can be contacted on e-mail : sinfo@cwcom.net or by Tel: 07980 522047Yours faithfully,
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